Drama of Redemption (Part 2)

Thanks for tuning in to No Compromise Radio with pastor and author, Dr. Mike Abendroth. Today on No Compromise Radio, we'll be hearing Pastor Mike open the Word of God in a recent message he preached at Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

Now let's join Pastor Mike in progress as he preaches through the scriptures, verse by verse, with No Compromise.

The Proverbs 31 Woman and Her Excellence

She looks well to the ways of her household, does not eat the bread of idleness. Literally bread of idleness means eyes looking everywhere. She's not just trying to be discontent, looking all around, what can I do next?

No she's busy. And the payoff is, by the way, better than climbing the corporate ladder, better than a raise, better than a career, her children rise up and bless her. Sounds just like Ruth, doesn't it?

I think they're going to do the exact same thing for Ruth. Her husband also praises her, saying, many daughters have done, there's our word again from Ruth and Proverbs 31 .10, excellence, integrity, nobility.

Many have done nobly, but you excel them all. You're the best of the best. After all, verse 30, charm is deceitful. Charm means bodily form. What a woman looks like, what her form is like is deceitful because that doesn't show you what's going on in the inside.

And beauty is vain. What an awful translation that is, beauty is vain. ESV, NAS, both say beauty is vain. Is beauty vain? No, but it's fleeting. We all like beauty. It's not vain, but it's fleeting. So the external form of a woman is deceitful and beauty does flee.

But the woman who fears the Lord, like Ruth when she got converted in chapter one of Ruth, who fears Yahweh, she shall be praised. She doesn't care what the culture thinks, what society thinks, what Oprah thinks.

What does the Lord think? And as Proverbs 1 starts off with, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of what? Wisdom. Here a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Verse 31, give her the product of her hands and let her works praise her in the gates.

Actions speak louder than words. So let's turn our Bibles back to Ruth chapter three, please. But I wanted you to see the tie-in between the Proverbs 31 woman and Ruth, both women of excellence, of integrity, of nobility.

As you're turning there, Charles Spurgeon gave a tribute to his wife, and it could be Boaz writing of Ruth. She delights in her husband, in his person, his character, his affection. To her, he is not only the chief and the foremost of mankind, but in her eyes, he is all in all.

Her heart's love belongs to him and to him alone. She is glad to sink her individuality in him. She seeks no renown for herself. His honor is reflected upon her and she rejoices in it. She will defend his name with her dying breath.

Boaz Faces a Closer Redeemer

Now, back to Ruth chapter three, verse 12. Just when you thought everything was going to end so wonderfully, we have another complication. And the way this drama is written is, there's a problem, then a solution.

And now we have another problem. I mean, I'm just about ready to relax. He's going to redeem her. There's another possible stickler here. Verse 12, and now it's true that I'm a redeemer. Now, between the lines, I could say it this way.

But I've done some research about you, because I've been thinking about you, and I've done my homework, and I know there's a closer redeemer. Verse 12b, yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. I'm a kinsman, but I'm not the closest kinsman.

It goes brother, then cousin. There's somebody nearer. There's somebody nearer. There's many redeemers in a clan, and I'm so honorable and noble that I'm going to make sure the right things happen. And I've done some homework.

I've done a little background check on you, and there's a complication. Now, if you're Ruth, what would you be thinking? Here's what I'd be thinking if I was Ruth. Oh, great. I've got to go back down to the threshing floor again with some other guy.

Here we go again. This thing isn't even going to... It's not even going to come to fruition. Brothers, and uncles, and brothers, fathers, brothers, and cousins, and... He's not at the top of the list.

He's a near kinsman. He's able to pay the redemption price. He's willing to redeem. He doesn't have to be redeemed himself, but there's this complication. How is it resolved? Verse 13. Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good.

Let him do it. One way or the other, you're going to be covered. But if he's not willing to redeem you, then as Yahweh lives, as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning. I want you to stay here, because if you leave in the middle of the night from the threshing floor, the town gossips are going to have a field day, number one.

Number two, this is dangerous out there, so you stay right here. You stay right here by me. An extra biblical account called the Chaldee paraphrases it this way. He did not approach her, but did as Joseph the just, who would not come near to his Egyptian mistress.

And Bishop Hall said, Boaz, instead of touching her as a wanton, blessed her as a father, encouraged her as a friend, and promised her as a kinsman. He makes an oath, a Hebrew oath, no light matter. And I'm going to demonstrate my integrity to you by binding myself with a solemn vow.

I'm going to do this before God. I'll take care of you. So, verse 14. Notice very carefully, she lay at his feet, not by his side, until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. We don't want to let the town gossips go crazy.

And he said, let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor, that place where these bad things often happen. You don't need to have a life complicated by what people say about you, nor do I.

Verse 15. But this is the way Boaz is, he just blesses and blesses. And he said, bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out. So she held it out. He measured out six measures of barley and put it on her, and then she went to the city.

So he's already given her so much, and now he's going to make sure she has some more temporal things, like barley. Now, what does your text say? Six measures of barley. In the Hebrew, we don't really know what the measure refers to.

It says six of barley. Now, if it was six ephahs, that would be like 300 pounds, and she would really be a strong lady. Imagine carrying 300 pounds of stuff on her head. Six omers, maybe not enough, that's 30 pounds.

Or six siahs, which would be about 60 pounds. That's about probably what she took. I don't want you to think about some kind of, you know... I want you to think about strength of character, not necessarily strength of biceps.

So she takes about 60 pounds worth that he gives her. Now, just think for a second, how many does he give her? Six measures. And I don't know if this is true or not, but it could be very easily true that with biblical symbolism, seven is complete and six is one lacking.

And here's a bunch of barley seed, here's a bunch of barley grain, but there's more to come. What you need is not just barley, but you need offspring. You need a seed. So you should look forward to receiving the final sixth, final seventh.

Verse 16, I wonder if Naomi slept. And when she came to her mother-in-law, she, the mother-in-law said, How did you fare, my daughter? Then she told her all that the man had done for her. Now the Hebrew says, not how did you fare, it says literally, who are you?

Who are you, my daughter? So you go, well, maybe she's just waking up, maybe she can't see, maybe it's still dust. Who are you? No, why did she say, who are you? Because I want to know, are you still Ruth, the widow of Malon, or are you prospective Mrs. Boaz?

Who are you? I want to know, who are you now? Just feel the anticipation. I mean, Naomi set this whole thing up. Who are you? Verse 17 says, saying these six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.

Must not go back with nothing. Remember, Naomi goes down to Moab full and she returns back empty. Right, her husband died. Now, I don't want you to go to her empty-handed. So he gives her all this stuff.

She replied, verse 18, wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out. For the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today. I know what kind of guy this is. He's going to take care of it today.

I don't know if she meant this, but she could have. And don't follow him around. Just let him take care of it. Now, here's my question for you today. I understand that Ruth was a woman of integrity. And I understand that Boaz was a man of integrity.

But my question for you today is this. Boab had no obligation to redeem Ruth. What obligation does God have to redeem you? Let me put it in a different way. Why did God save you? Now, for Boaz and Ruth, I think Boaz saved Ruth and redeemed her because he was kind.

He was generous. He was faithful. He was a man of valor. But I also think there was something in Ruth that made Boaz say, she's a fine woman. She's attractive to me on the inside. But when God saves you, were you attractive on the inside or outside?

Why did God save you, a sinner? Why did God redeem you? I see why husbands marry Proverbs 31 women. But we aren't Proverbs 31 men or women. So why would God ever save us? You think, well, that's easy.

Well, according to R .C. Sproul, he says, I know of no more difficult a theological question than to deal with in this one. I've been studying theology for many years and I still can't come up with any exhaustive reason to explain why God would save me or anyone else for that matter.

Why did God redeem anyone? Was God obliged to save sinners? Let me put it to you this way. Was God willing to redeem fallen angels? He wasn't willing at all. And he was just for not dying for angels. God didn't have His Son, the Eternal Son, cloak Himself with angel nature, so He could be a kinsman redeemer for angels.

God didn't harm the angels in any way by letting them just stay fallen. Of course, animals have been affected by the fall. Is God unjust for not redeeming animals? He wasn't willing. He wasn't willing to redeem angels.

He wasn't willing to redeem animals, not even dogs. Cats is an easy one, but dogs? Dogs? Why is God not willing to redeem angels, not willing to redeem animals, and actually He's not willing to redeem every person that's ever been born?

He wasn't willing to redeem Goliath. He wasn't willing to redeem Judas. He wasn't willing to redeem Jezebel. So I've got a question for you. Why on earth was He willing to redeem you? You say, I know.

I'm smarter than everybody. God looked down the quarter of time and saw me and He thought I was smart. He knew the future and He knew that I would be influential. God looked down the quarters of time and He saw all the works that I would do.

He saw I got baptized and catechized. God looked down the quarters of time and He saw something good. He thought I was spiritually handsome, spiritually pretty. God looked and He thought, you know what?

There's never going to be a more righteous man than Mike Avendroth. I'll pick him. That's why God did it. God says, well, you know, I'll pick that same person because of their humility. They're really humble.

And God doesn't even say, the reason why I pick you is because you believed. Because belief isn't even meritorious. Belief didn't die on a cross and it was not raised from the dead. Belief is a gift. Why does God save anyone?

Why don't you turn your Bibles to Hosea chapter 14? Since we're talking about Hosea a little bit with a threshing floor, go to Hosea chapter 14, verse 4. I'm going to give you your new favorite verse.

Some of you are going to now make this your life verse. I don't know really what life verse means, but for this week you can have this as your life verse. I know the world's life verse, judge not lest you be judged.

But now this is your new life verse. What explains our salvation? Why would God save us? And by the way, I'm driving at this because if you can unlock this answer to this question, you're going to have joy, thankfulness.

You're going to say to yourself, I can't believe God had no reason in me to pick me because I was dead in trespasses and sins, I was a slave to the world, I was a slave to Satan, and I deserve to be thrown and cast into the lake of fire I just heard read from this pulpit.

As a matter of fact, if you're here today, you deserve to be cast into the lake of fire for one sin, let alone how many have you committed. I know I don't deserve heaven, but why would God save? Answering the why question helps us respond Christianly.

Hosea 4 .4, the closest I can come to to answer the question, why would God ever save us? We know he's talking Israel here, chapter 14, verse 1. And he says in verse 4, tucked right there in the middle of this wonderful prophecy, I will love them what?

Freely. Why did God choose to love you? He had nothing outside of him commanding him, influencing him, obligating him. God chose you because based on his own free will, he decided to love you. Not because you earned it, but he just said, I'm a loving God, I'm a merciful God, I'm a kind God, and the angels didn't deserve it, and they didn't get it.

Lots of other people didn't deserve it, and they didn't get it. And you didn't deserve it, but you get redemption. To honor Christ Jesus, I've loved you freely. That is amazing. That's why it says in Romans 9 .4, he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.

It does not therefore depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. Aren't you glad God had mercy on you? Aren't you glad God had compassion on you through Christ Jesus? God saves people by himself, for himself, to please himself, only consulting with himself, only answering to himself for his own glory.

What a great God. You say, well, I don't like this sovereignty and salvation business. Remember when I was a kid, I used to play in the sandbox. Kids, of course, don't know what sandboxes are, but I bet you there's going to be a sandbox app someday.

And I had two armies, as I've told you before. I had some blue guys and some gray guys. You can't really use this illustration in the South. But I had the Yankees and I had the Confederates. And these were the old-fashioned kind of soldiers.

You couldn't buy a whole bag at the dollar store, that's for sure. And I was in Nebraska, so I was like on a border state, but still I was a Yankee. Aren't you glad? And the Yankees beat the Confederates in my sandbox every single time.

They had a couple guys left at the end. All my guys were dead except for one. Me. And I was the sovereign. Who lived, who died. When they lived, when they died. Where they moved, I moved them all around.

Don't you love to choose? If you believe in love marriages, or you have a love marriage and you've chosen. If you have arranged marriages, your parents have chosen. We choose all the time. Why do we love choice in ourselves, but we hate it in God?

Answer. Because we're prideful people. Show me someone that revolts against the free will of God and tries to hold on to their own puny free will and I'll show you a prideful person. Free from what? Our will as unbelievers?

Free from indwelling sin? Free from Satan's influences? Free from the world? You can't even watch a Cheeto commercial without being hungry for a snack. Free from anything? Free from God? No, God is the one without restraint, without constraint, without counsel.

And God says, I choose. I choose you. Last passage, go to Ephesians chapter 1 please. My driving point here is, of course, Boaz was generous and sacrificial. But how much more is Jesus? Boaz picks a wonderful woman and Jesus picks a sullied bride.

And then redeems her and cleanses her and washes her. Why does anyone become a Christian? If you're a Christian today, you say, well, I believe. Therefore, I'm a Christian. Who gave you the belief? And you just keep backing up until you realize, you know what, I had nothing to do with my salvation except my sin.

And therefore, I should be praising God. I deserve lake of fire. I get to go to heaven. I'm redeemed. Ephesians 1 .3, I know you know the verses. But here's Paul 25 years later after he's been saved. The Damascus road experience has never left him.

And he just erupts. It's like volcano praise. You can't hold it back. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Verse 4, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, not because we were holy and blameless, but that we should be holy and blameless.

Can you imagine in eternity past, before Genesis 1 .1, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit have a council. And they have an agreement. None of the sinners will ever deserve this. But since we're merciful and gracious and a God who demonstrates love towards sinners, the Father says to the Son, here's the elect.

Not all, but some. Not none, but some. You go rescue these. You go die for these. And I'll have my Spirit, the Holy Spirit, regenerate those. And then you clean them and wash them. And then you give them back to me as a love gift.

Before eternity begins. Plan. Can you imagine your salvation was planned before you were born? Before the foundation of the world. And why? Verse 6, why is this all happening? Why has He predestined us for adoption as sons?

Verse 6, to the praise of His glorious grace. God choosing us for Himself. For praise. No wonder. It's amazing to read 2 Timothy 1 .9. He saved us according to His own purpose and grace given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

Psalm 115, not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name be the glory. And we weren't there to do anything about it, so we don't get any glory. Good thing because He's a holy God and His name is jealous.

Exodus 34. MacArthur said, our salvation as individuals is almost incidental. The real aim of God's plan is not merely to get us to heaven, but the drama of our salvation has an even grander purpose. Listen.

It is an expression of eternal love within the Trinity. We're only the gift. That's why Paul says, I celebrate you, God, with praises. If you're a Christian, when's the last time you said, thank you, God, for my salvation.

Thank you for choosing me in eternity past. Thank you that you're sovereign and I'm not. I want to speak well of you. I want to have my heart roused with gratitude and overflow with thanksgiving. That's why, friends, on Sundays when I preach, I never say, you know, the people have struggled all week.

They're going to have a horrible week this week at work and trials and temptations. I'm just going to give them another sermon to get them through the week. I never think that way. Because that's maybe what we might want.

But I want you to see this great God. It's like a telescope. Have you ever taken a telescope and flipped it around the wrong way? What do you see in the telescope that flips around the wrong way? I'll tell you what you see.

A big orb eyeball and a bunch of eyelashes, yours. And you can't see anything out here because it's small. The lens of scripture helps me like a lamp under my feet so I can see things rightly. And I go, yes, I serve this great God, a big God.

Why did He save me? No reason in me. But He did save me and I'm thankful for that. The God of love and eternity past didn't have to make me but to express His love. He makes people and saves many of them.

Martin Lloyd-Jones, look at the matter in this way. Here you and I, miserable worms in this world, miserable worms with our arrogance and our pride and our appalling ignorance, we deserve to be blotted off the face of the earth.

But what has happened is that before the foundation of the world, this blessed God, these three blessed persons considered us, considered our condition, considered what would happen to us, and the consequence was that these three persons, God whom no man has ever seen, stooped to consider us.

And He planned a way whereby we might be forgiven and redeemed. The son said, I will leave this glory for a while. I will dwell in the womb of a woman. I will be born as a babe. I will become a pauper.

I will suffer insult in the world. I will even allow them to nail me to a cross and spit in my face. He volunteered to do all that for us, and at this very moment, this blessed second person in the Trinity is seated at the right hand of God to represent you and me.

He came down to earth and did all that and rose again and ascended into heaven, and it was all planned before the world for you and for me. Hallelujah, what a Savior.

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God's Word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 8 .30 and 11 a .m. and Sunday evenings at 6 p .m. We're located on Route 110 in West Boylston, Massachusetts. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

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